(quote) Ann-69118 said: We all know that you have to give up some things up when you enter a relationship what would you be willing to part with or do without?

Absolutely nothing essential for it to succeed. Everything else is negotiable.
Both persons have to be 100% committed to it, for life. Not 50/50 as I am so sick of hearing that too. We both are either all in or we are not.

(quote) Ann-69118 said: You're right Bob loss of personal times is a biggie especially if you can be a loner type or are used to having a lot of personal time.

Ann - I suspect many of us are NOT Loners, but if there is no other one, we have to be alone. Think of the millions in America who live alone.

I have an Outback gift certificate which needs to be redeemed soon. There's really no local woman I'm interested in asking, except for two in my Apt Complex who would probably meet me for Dinner at Outback. One is 36, who talks w/ me frequently, and the other is 26 working on her PhD, but we've gotten to know each other by seeing each other on the Apt Complex Grounds.

Looking at the ultimate end goal of marriage, I would say one would have to be willing to give up everything outside of Faith and maintaining currently healthy relationships. The love within a marriage is in part sacrificial, mirroring the love between Christ and His Church. We ultimately have to give up everything earthly to get into Heaven, which means there is a similar calling in marriage.

The operative word in all this is willing. If one's mindset is "I must give everything up for this person" they are no better than a doormat. Having the will to sacrifice doesn't mean that you must give up everything or even be put into a situation where that would occur, but it is a frame of mind. It is also a call to compromise rather than cave in just to keep harmony within the relationship. There is little opportunity for personal spiritual growth for either party if one is constantly a pushover.

(quote) John-971967 said: Absolutely nothing essential for it to succeed. Everything else is negotiable.
Both persons have to be 100% committed to it, for life. Not 50/50 as I am so sick of hearing that too. We both are either all in or we are not.

I will qualify that my statement is directed for a committed relationship in marriage.

I think we'd have to give up anything that would have a deadly impact on the marriage, from selfishly caring only about our own wants, to, being so unselfish and self-giving that our own needs are ignored and never met! Make sense to anyone else?